Clocks
by Hey.Look.Its.Feels
Summary: "All I needed was time." There was no more time. "It was going to be okay." No, it wasn't. "Please, wake up." The figure didn't move. "Please, don't leave. I don't want to be alone." Maybe I was destined to be alone. "Let me hear your heartbeat, please, just answer me!" There was no heartbeat- only silence. The Clock of Life stops ticking, just as the death of an angel begins.


They say there are 64 heartbeats in a minute.

There are 60 seconds in a minute.

So if you were to use your heartbeat as a clock, and each heartbeat as a second as a clock, you would be way behind in time.

However, a heartbeat is a much better clock than anything else.

When you die, your heart beat might speed up, and your life flashes before your eyes, so therefore, time is going faster. Or it might slowdown, and you contemplate your life, therefore time goes slower.

Maybe if you thought of your heartbeat as a clock, maybe you had more seconds- more time- to live.

At least, that's how it works in Richard Grayson's mind.

… … …

Tears pricked his eyes, and he didn't stop them as he saw the scene before him. He ran to his companion's side, dropping to his knees. He bent down and checked for a pulse… it was there, but faint.

"It's going to be okay. I called the League. It's going to be alright, okay?" He waited for a response. He got none. "Okay?!" The weak form nodded, and a groan followed as blood soak the black suit and white snow of the gravelled alley street.

He hugged them, careful of their injuries, and tears began to fall rapidly. Sirens sounded all around him, coming from the streets as police cars and ambulances rushed towards the abandoned alley. He ripped of his black gloves and swung them who knows where, and cupped their cheeks in his palms.

"The police are coming. The League is coming. They are coming. It's going to be okay. Just stay awake for little bit longer. Okay?" The figure's head just barely shook, and the movements were sluggish, as if they were half asleep and were just getting out of bed. He slowly took off the cowl, and stared at their face. Their eye's were in slits, and their forehead stained with blood.

A small drop of blood fell from the parted lips, and Dick watched as the eyelids began to droop.

"No! No. No, you stay with me. Stay with me! I can't lose you! Just stay awake, only for a little bit. Only for a little while longer. Please." A small exhale sounded as the closed their eyes, and Dick's world went deaf from the sound of his scream. He checked for a pulse, and it began to fade away.

All he needed was more time. He just needed time. But that heartbeat- that was his sense of time, and he was losing it. It was slipping. He only needed more time- time. Time was what would make this okay. Only a minute. Only a single minute was what he needed. He only needed a minute and the League and police and ambulances would all be here and it would all be okay.

He had no watch, so he put his index and middle fingers to their wrist, and began to count. All he need was 64 small heartbeats, and everyone would be here and it would be okay.

"1...2… 3…" He focused on only that pulse.

"9...10...11…" He needed to think of nothing but the heartbeats.

"17...18...19…" The world around him faded, and the feeling of rain on his back slipped away.

"25...26...27…" His senses dulled, all of except his hearing. He closed his eyes, and counted.

"33...34...35…" It was going to be okay.

"41...42...43…" They were almost there, almost to sixty four.

"49...50...51…" Everything would be okay…

"57… 58… 59…" It would all be okay.

"60...61...62...63…." The league wasn't here. The police wasn't here. The ambulance wasn't here. No. No. This wasn't happening. This couldn't happen.

There was no heartbeat.

The heartbeats never reached 64.

Nothing would be okay.

"No! Stay awake! Stay awake! Please," he began to choke on a lump in his throat. "Please, please just don't go. Don't leave me. Don't do this, please! All I need is a little time; you'll be okay. You're going to be okay. I need you. Please just open your eyes." The limp figure didn't move. "No! Wake up! Open your eyes! Wake up, please! I can't lose you! I need you! I can't lose anyone else! You're all I have left, you're my only hope in the world. Please, stop messing around. Please just wake up. Open your eyes and laugh, tell me it was a prank, tell me you're joking. Start laughing, and tell me you got it on video. Say something- anything! Just please, please wake up! Wake up! I just need a little time. That's all I need, is a little time. Please." He felt the tears come, he heard his screams, he tasted the rain as he cried upwards towards the sky, he smelled the blood as the white snow became a dark shade of red, and he saw the world around him blurred as he broke down.

He looked at the clouds above him, and ripped off his mask with his blood-stained hands. A thunderous crackle of thunder sounded from all around him and he shouted at the gray clouds.

"Please! Give me more time! I need more time! Please- give me more time!"

All he got in response was more thunder. He didn't expect and answer. He didn't even know who he yelled out too.

The League? The police? The team? Himself? God? The figure on the pavement? Honestly, he didn't know.

The sirens approaching closer and he felt the League come in behind him. He didn't acknowledge their presence, however. He simply stared at the dead companion in front of him.

There was no more time.

"You can't leave me," his voice cracked and it dropped down to a mere whisper. "You can't die. You're a hero. You're an angel. Angels don't die. Dead angels can't fly."

He silently scream out the dead figure.

"Wake up. Please."

The figure didn't move.

"All I needed was time. I had one minute with. I counted. I counted each second. With you. Each. Second. I had a minute left with you and in the minute you were dying, I don't know if your life flashed before your eyes in those last seconds, or if you contemplated every choice you made in the seconds, but it wasn't enough. You are too important. You need more than just a minute to reflect on your life. All You needed- all I needed, was time."

He stared at the motionless body, and closed his eyes in disgust.

"And now you're dead…"

… … ...

The limo pulled up to the curb, and stopped. The driver, a man in his sixties turned to face the passenger in the back, a young and small boy who couldn't be any older than thirteen.

This is where we meet Alfred Pennyworth, the butler of the Wayne family.

The limo was parked outside of Gotham Academy, an elite and private school. Alfred turned to face the younger.

He offered with a sincere smile, and the skin around his eyes wrinkled in just the perfect way. The boy in the back smiled in return, and slided over the the right side of the car, where the door closest to Gotham Academy was. Alfred began to get out of the car to open the boy's door, but the boy stopped him.

"I got it, Al." The boy opened his door, and let it linger, slivered open, for a split second longer than usual. "Have a nice day!"

"Of course, Master Richard, and have a wonderful day!" The boy opened his door, and wind swept in, brushing his raven hair to the side. Getting out, he turned to grab his bag, and gave Alfred a smile in thanks. The boy's blue eyes stood out against his pale skin, and the glint in his eyes made Alfred chuckle. Shutting the door, the boy waved before turning towards the large campus.

This is where we meet Richard Grayson, the adopted and only son of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne.

Richard ran across the campus to meet his best friend of five years, Barbara Gordon.

Barbara was not the average rich snob at Gotham Academy. In fact, she wasn't rich at all. Maybe that was why she stood out so much.

Or maybe it was her pale skin and fiery red hair.

No one quite knew.

Barbara saw Richard walking towards her, and waved her hand high in the air. She smiled as he came close, and began walking towards him as well.

"Hey Babs!"

"Dick! Long time no see!" The two laughed jokingly, considering the fact they had spent all of the previous day, Sunday, together, watching Disney movies and "The Princess Bride."

"Ready for the field trip?" Dick asked, as they walked over to a small wooden bench and sat down. It had been their usual spot, considering the fact that it was one of the only spots away from the cliques that hung out _everywhere. _

"Oh my gosh, yes! The museum is soooo big," her voice dropped to a whisper, "perfect for running off from the group,"

"And having some real fun," Dick finished. The two broke into a fit of mischievous giggles.

The two talked until the bell rang, where they departed ways to go to class.

Barbara smiled, and her green eyes glimmered at her best friend.

"Bye, Dick."

"Bye, Babs." As she walked away, Dick smiled. He liked Babs. Babs liked him.

Together more than Batman and Robin.

She was his companion.

… … ...

"You will have thirty minutes to write as much about yourself, then we will present them as monologues tomorrow." The teacher's voice was sharp, and harsh- like when the metal of and eraser scrapes against paper.

A smirk found it's way to his face. More time is all he would need, and luckily, that was exactly what he had, after a little hacking of the clocks, that was.

… … ...

As Dick finished dressing back into his gym clothes, the bell rang for lunch. Rushing ahead of the other kids, he ran to his usual table, where he saw Better and Artemis already talking.

_Weird… Babs has fourth hour with Artemis, where is she?_

He sat down, and pulled out whatever Alfred provided him with for food. "Hey, where's Babs?" Artemis looked up from her sandwich and answered immediately.

"Her dad came and picked her up, apparently her mom is in town and wanted to catch up over lunch or whatever. She's not coming back for the rest of the day." Bette gasped.

"Seriously? Me and her have a math test in eighth hour! That lucky-"

"So she's not coming back?" Dick interrupted.

'Nope," concluded Artemis.

… … …

Dick rushed into the Wayne Manor, and literally ran into Bruce.

"Bruce! Hey, do you know if Babs is back from lunch with her parents?" His guardian nodded.

"She came back a while ago. I sent her on a scouting mission because she was bored. Why?"

"Just wondered."

"Speaking of which, she should be back by now…"

"What do you mean?

"She should've been back at one thirty. It's three."

"Have you commed her? Is she okay?"

"I'm sure she's fine, Dick."

"Yeah. Tell me to call her when she gets back, kay?"

… … ….

She never came back.

… … …

"Please be okay… please be okay…" Bruce had gone out on a mission with the League, and Dick was the only one around around to receive the distress call.

… … …

She wasn't okay.

… … ….

"ETA - two minutes. Hang on, Batgirl."

"Hurry up, Robin."

"I'm going to save you, hang on."

… … …

She wasn't saved.

Then again… angels never were saved, were they? They didn't need to be. They were destined to be okay. Angels were always okay. They didn't need to be saved.

In a way, Barbara Gordon was an angel. She never needed to be saved. And the one time she does, she isn't.

… … …

"Robin. Hurry."

"It's going to be okay, Batgirl. I'll be there in one minute."

"I don't have a clock. I don't know a minute."

"Count out 64 heartbeats. I'll be there in sixty four heartbeats."

… … …

Barbara counted the heartbeats. Dick wasn't there. He wasn't there.

… … …

Barbara was cold.

… … ...

Tears pricked his eyes, and he didn't stop them as he saw the scene before him. He ran to his companion's side, dropping to his knees. He bent down and checked for a pulse… it was there, but faint.

"It's going to be okay. I called the League. It's going to be alright, okay?" He waited for a response. He got none. "Okay?!" Barbara's weak form nodded, and a groan followed as blood soak the black suit and white snow of the gravelled alley street.

He hugged her, careful of the injuries, and tears began to fall rapidly. Sirens sounded all around him, coming from the streets as police cars and ambulances rushed towards the abandoned alley. He ripped of his black gloves and swung them who knows where, and cupped their cheeks in his palms.

"The police are coming. The League is coming. They are coming. It's going to be okay. Just stay awake for little bit longer. Okay?" Batgirl's head just barely shook, and the movements were sluggish, as if half asleep and were just getting out of bed. He slowly took off the cowl, and stared at her face. Her beautiful face. Her eye's were in slits, and her forehead stained with blood.

A small drop of blood fell from the parted lips, and Dick watched as the eyelids began to droop.

"No! No. No, you stay with me. Stay with me! I can't lose you! Just stay awake, only for a little bit. Only for a little while longer. Please." A small exhale sounded as Barbara closed her eyes, and Dick's world went deaf from the sound of his scream. He checked for a pulse, it was there. But it began to fade away.

All he needed was more time. He just needed time. But that heartbeat- that was his sense of time, and he was losing it. It was slipping. He only needed more time- time, time was what would make this okay. Only a minute, only a minute was what he needed. He only needed a minute and the League and police and ambulances would all be here and it would all be okay.

He had no watch, so he put his index and middle fingers to their wrist, and began to count. All he need was 64 small heartbeats, and everyone would be here and it would be okay.

"1...2… 3…"

… … …

"60...61...62...63…." The league wasn't here. The police wasn't here. The ambulance wasn't here. No. No. This wasn't happening. This couldn't happen.

There was no heartbeat.

The heartbeats never reached 64.

Nothing would be okay.

… … …

"You can't leave me," his voice cracked and it dropped down to a mere whisper. "You can't die. You're a hero. You're my angel. Angels don't die. Dead angels can't fly."

He silently screamed out her dead body.

"Wake up. Please."

She didn't move.

"All I needed was time. I had one minute with. I counted. I counted each second. With you. Each. Second. I had a minute left with you and in the minute you were dying, I don't know if your life flashed before your eyes in those last seconds, or if you contemplated every choice you made in the seconds, but it wasn't enough. You are too important. You need more than just a minute to reflect on your life. All You needed- all I needed, was time."

He stared at the motionless body of Barbara Gordon, and closed his eyes in disgust.

"And now you're dead…"

… … …

Richard Grayson stared at the tombstone, and then looked back at the crowd.

"Barbara Gordon was my best friend. She was my only friend when my world came crashing down. Every time we had a sleepover when we were younger, I would wake up screaming, and crying, and she would just hug me. She never asked me what was wrong, she never had to ask me how my day was. She simply knew.

She is the most amazing person in the Universe. She was too amazing to be human. She was an angel. My angel. Angels deserve to fly. She deserves to fly. And she can't- not when she is six feet under.

The clock of life stops, when the death of an angel begins.

She deserved better, for all she did.

She deserves more than anyone.

But she never deserved this."

… … …

_"Dick, I'm scared."_

_"I'll be there in ten seconds."_

_"Dick, I don't want to die."_

_"I won't let that happen._

_"Dick, I'm cold. It's cold outside."_

… … …

It's too cold outside, for angels to fly.

Fin.


End file.
